Rail fastenings



April 18, 1967 JQ M. WATERS RAIL'FASTENINGS Filed Feb. 2G, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet l FIG! April 18, 1967 J. M. WATERS RAIL FASTENINGS Filed Feb.' 26, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 uns,

United States Patent 3,314,605 RAIL FASTENINGS John Murray Waters, Chislehurst, Kent, England, aS- signor to The Tempered Spring Company Limited, Shefeld, England, a company of Great Britain and Northern lreiand Filed Feb. 26, 1965, Ser. No. 435,516 Claims priority, application Great Britain, Mar. 5, 1964, 9,34'7/64 6 Claims. (Cl. 23S-321) This invention concerns improvements relating to rail fastenings, that is means for securing rails to sleepers or to other rail foundations, particularly foundations of concrete or other cast or moulded material.

The invention provides a rail fastening comprising, in combination with a sleeper or other rail foundation, a clip in the form of a spring plate, a reaction piece fixed in the foundation and comprising an upright hoop located substantially in one plane with its cross bar spaced above the surface of the foundation and away from the foot of the rail, and a back support mounted on the said foundation on the side of the said cross bar remote from the rail, the clip bearing at one end on the foot of the rail and at the other end on the back support and fitting, intermediately of its ends, within the said hoop, where it reacts substantially in the said plane against the said cross bar.

The invention also provides a reaction piece comprising an upright hoop and a lateral abutment for the foot of the rail, the hoop being formed substantially in one plane and having a lower part capable of being fixed to the sleeper or other foundation and a cross bar capable of being spaced above the surface of the foundation for the clip to react against intermediate its ends.

Advantageously, in the case of a concrete or other cast or moulded foundation, the reaction piece may be embedded in the foundation. Suitably, a lateral abutment for the foot of the rail consists of a further cross bar projecting above the surface of the foundation at the level of the said foot and connected to the lower part of the hoop.

In such a fastening, bending stresses in the reaction piece can be avoided or kept to very low values, permitting of economy in material and ease of manufacture.

As seen in plan view, the clip may be of forked shape at its toe end for bearing on the foot of the rail and of tapered shape at its heel end for bearing on the back support. The back support may be a block of similarly tapering shape. An insulating member may be provided between the said toe end of the clip and the foot of the rail and a rail pad may be provided under the foot of the rail. Interengageable formations can be advantageously provided between these several components for preventing or limiting relative displacement, i.e. between the back support and the foundation on the one hand and the heel end of the clip on the other hand and between the insulating member and the rail-foot abutment on t-he one hand and the toe end of the clip on the other hand. Displacement of the rail pad may be similarly prevented by interengagement with the rail-foot abutment.

It is a particular advantage of such a rail fastening that use can be made for its components of parts which have protective coatings or which have been produced from materials not subject to corrosion.

One preferred manner of carrying the invention into effect will now be more fully described by way of example and with reference to the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. l is a plan view of a rail fastening,

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view of the rail fastening as seen on the line II--II in FIG. l,

3,314,6@5 Patented Apr. 18, 1967 FIG. 3 is an elevation of a reaction piece as seen from the side presented towards the rail,

FIG. 4 an elevation of a back support as seen from the side away from the rail, and

FIG. 5 a plan view of an insulator.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a complete fastening for securing a rail 1 to a reinforced concrete sleeper 2 comprises two clips 3 each with a back support 4, a reaction piece 5, an insulator 6 by which the clip 3 bears on a flange 7 at the foot of the rail, and a rail pad 8 by which the rail rests upon the sleeper, The pad may be designed to serve primarily for resilient shock-insulation or electrical insulation purposes or with both these purposes in view; it may be made of rubber.

In the example illustrated, each reaction piece 5 com prises a superior piece projecting above the surface of the sleeper Z having a dat hoop or D-shaped portion made from flat material disposed in one plane parallel to the vertical central plane of the rail 1 with its lower part or inferior piece, which is formed as a divided leg 9, embedded in the concrete of the sleeper 2 and with its straight horizontal cross bar 1t) spaced from the upper surface of the sleeper. The clip 3 engages under the cross bar 1t) and is located laterally by the limbs 16a of the D shape. From the inside of the lower part of the leg 9, there extends, upwardly and towards the rail 1, the inclined leg 11 or inferior piece of a further, T-shaped member 12 of which only the straight cross bar 13 projects, parallel to the aforesaid plane of the rail, above the surface of the sleeper 2 constituting the superior piece of abutment member 12. The cross -bar 13 affords a dat lateral abutment, through the adjacent insulator 6, for the adjacent ange 7 of the rail 1, whereby the rail is maintained in its position with respect to gauge. The

cross bar 13 may also serve to hold the rail pad S in position.

As illustrated, both the rail Harige 7 and t-he pad 3 bear against the cross bar 13 through a dependent flange 14 on the insulator 6. However, the pad 8 may be further anchored against creep or other movement in any direction in relation to the sleeper 2. For example, the pad may have a simple tab or projection or a projection with an enlarged head engaged with a slot or hole at the middle of the cross bar 13. Alternatively the said bar may rbe arranged to project through a slot near the edge of the pad 8, End or edge portions of the bar 13 may then be bent or rolled over outwardly to assist in retaining the pad 8, for example against being lifted when the rail 1 is changed, even if the said pad tends to stick to the latter. As any such slots are external to the bearing area under the foot of the rail 1 the said area is still fully utilized for bearing purposes. Instead of being formed in the material of the pad 8, such slots may be provided in lugs, if desired of diiferent material from the pad, attached to the latter by a bonding or laminating process.

The reaction piece 5, in addition to its function of providing by the cross bar itl a reaction point for the clip 3 bearing on the rail flange 7 through the insulator 6 and of resisting by t-he parts 10a creep of the clip parallel to the rail 1, also serves by the cross bar 13 to afford a continuous flat reaction face for the insulator 6, thus minimising the stresses in the latter. The reaction piece 5 also prevents movement of the insulator 6 parallel to the rail 1, for which purpose the insulator is formed with short vertical flanges 15 `which engage around the ends of the cross bar 13.

It is an advantageous feature of the reaction piece 5 that its parts 9, 1d, 19a are in one plane, which coincides substantially with the plane in which the force of the substantially horizontal clip 3 acts on the re-` action piece, so that bending stresses in the latter are avoided. Moreover, the reaction piece is not subject to lbending stresses emanating from the rail foot, since the abutment 13 is connected to the hoop of said reaction piece below the surface of the sleeper only. The avoidance of bending stresses permits of the reaction piece 5 being made of thinner material or of material selected from a wider range than would otherwise be feasible. It may be made not only of mild steel, as in the example illustrated, or of other metal, for example by stamping, pressing or bending, but also from plastic or ceramic materials which may be reinforced with glass fibres, metal fibres, bonded metal whiskers or the like, for instance by moulding. As the load is imposed upon the reaction piece 5 as a result of lifting of the clip 3, abrasive action on the surfaces of said clip and reaction piece is avoided, so that it is practicable, to cover the clip and the reaction piece, if the latter is not itself made of non-corroding material, or at least exposed parts of the said piece, with a protective coating. The back support 4 also may be provided with a protective coating, if not made of a noncorroding material.

A further advantage of the reaction piece S described above is that it has regular plane faces on the parts 9, and 13 which facilitates its precise positioning in the moulds for the concrete sleeper 1 or, indeed in moulds for other foundations or in moulds for sleepers or foundations of thermo-setting or thermo-plastic material or other cast material. The reaction piece 5 also has a shape which, particularly due to the part 11, offers high resistance to extraction from the foundation in which it is embedded, affording good anchorage and stress distribution.

From the manufacturing point of view, it is an advantage that blanks for reaction pieces of the shape illustrated can be stamped economically from a continuous strip of material, the wider part (at 10) of alternate blanks being taken from opposite sides of the strip.

An alternative form of reacti-on piece is in the nature of two inverted U-shaped members joined at the ends of the legs of the Us. It has two straight legs which may be imagined as downward extensions of the limbs lila (FIG. 3). From the insides of the lower ends of these legs, two spaced legs then extend similarly to the leg 11 (FIG. 2) and carry a cross bar, positioned similarly to the bar 13, at their upper ends, thus forming a hoop instead of the T-shape of the member 12. This form of reaction piece can also be stamped economically from a continuous strip.

Another form of reaction piece comprising two hoopshaped portions may be formed from blanks of truncated V-shape, of which all but the ends of the limbs are `divided to form the legs and cross bars of the two hoops.

Although it is advantageous to form the reaction pieces by stamping from continuous strip, it will be understood that as an alternative it would be feasible to make them of welded construction.

The clip 3 illustrated comprises a generally straight at plate of spring steel having a tapering or V-shaped outer or heel end 16 which bears on the back support 4 and a V-shaped cut-away portion 17 forming, at the inner or toe end, two prongs 18 which bear through the insulator 6 on the rail flange 7. As seen in side elevation, the unstressed clip 3 is bowed slightly upwardly where it is to bear against the cross bar 10 and slightly downwardly between there and the toe extremity, the remaining length to the heel extremity being substantially straight. When in position and stressed, the clip assumes substantially the form shown in FIG. 2 in which it may be bowed very slightly upwardly between the back support 4 and the cross bar 10 and slightly downwardly between the latter and the toe extermity.

Such a clip, although made with economy of material and designed to permit stamping from a continuous strip with little or no wastage, has a shape such that the cross section of material along its length varies substantially proportionally with the bending moment, so that the stress is substantially uniform or is at least fairly uniformly distributed. This permits of design of the clip for a comparatively high allowable deflection for a given loading, so that larger variation from specification of the dimensions of the rail or of the dimensions or positions of the components after casting or assembly, and a larger amount of wear, can be tolerated. The shape at the heel and toe ends 16, 18 results in three-point loading of the clip, which reduces the high stresses which might otherwise result from any lack of parallelism due to inaccuracy of dimensions, or in assembly, of the rail and fastening components. The prongs 18 also serve to prevent relative lateral movement between the insulator 6 and clip 3 by engaging on each side of a rib 19, boss, or like projecting formation on the upper surface of the insulator. The reduced width of the tapering heel end 16 allows a short back support 4 to be used.

The back support 4 is of a truncated V-shape as seen in plan (FIG. l), tapering away from the rail 1, and widens slightly downwardly as seen in end elevation (FIG. 4). It has a tapering top face 20 for receiving the tapering heel end 16 of the clip and a transverse ledge 21 providing a positive endwise abutment for preventing movement of the clip 3 away from the rail. The back support 4 also has a step 22 for engaging a complementary step 23 on the sleeper 2, so that movement of the said support 4 away from the rail 1 is also positively prevented. The step formation may be rectangular or at a slight angle to the vertical as shown in FIG. 2. If required, the back support 4 may be made of insulating material, so that it serves as a heel insulator. A suitable material for the back support is polypropylene.

The process of assembly of each fastening is as follows: The insulator 6 is placed over the rail flange 7. The clip 3 is introduced under the cross bar 10 of the reaction piece 5 with its prongs resting upon the insulator 6. The heel part of the clip 3 is lifted to allow the back support 4 to be positioned under it, thus placing the clip under stress. With the form of back support 4 illustrated, the lifting force may suitably be applied at about the location a (FIG. 2). The force may be applied in various ways, as by a lever or a screw or hydraulic jack. If a lever is employed, the shape of the heel end portion 16 of the clip 3 permits of the use of a claw-shaped lever with lugs which can be slid vunder the clip, the spacings of the lugs being greater than the width of the heel end portion of the clip immediately inside the back support 4, but less than the full width of the clip.

Alternatively the force for lifting the heel end 16 of the clip 3 may be arranged to be applied near the extremity of the said end. In this case, the ledge 21 is omitted from the back support 4, whose top face 20 is formed with an outwardly tapering recess and the tapering heel end 16 is arranged to lodge in the said recess and to project beyond the edge of the back support 4 remote from the rail 1. Movement of the clip 3 away from the rail is in this case resisted by wedging action of the heel end 16 in the said recess.

As the back support is not xed to the sleeper, it can easily be removed or changed. Supports of different dimensions, particularly as to height, may be available, so that the clip stress and the load on the rail foot can be varied, if so required. However, the back support is not dependent for its efficacy upon close tolerances of cross sectional dimensions or upon uniformity in the material employed.

The material of the back support may be selected with such a hardness that it will indent, under the clip loading, to a very slight extent only. Such indentation will assist in preventing lateral movement of the clip 3.

Clips 3 and back supports 4 of the same kind will generally be used on both sides of the rail, as illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, but clips and back supports of different kinds could be used in combination.

The insulator 6 may suitably be made of high density polythene. Apart from its function of insulating the rail 1 electrically from the fastening components and indirectly from the foundation, it ofers plain faces for bearing on the rail flange 7 and for abutting against the cross bar 13, whereby the load from the clip is evenly distributed to the said flange and the rail located correctly with respect to gauge. Such an insulator can be simply produced to close dimensional tolerances by injection moulding. For some purposes, use may be made for the insulator, of a simple L-shaped strip of uniform cross section of which one flange bears on the top of the rail flange 7 and the other is located between the edge of the said flange and the cross bar `13. Such an insulator may alternatively be produced by a lamination process. Whatever its form, the insulator may be provided with a protective coating.

Although it will generally be preferable to provide an insulator 6 between the clip 3 and rail flange 7, this may not be essential for all purposes.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

l. A rail fastening arrangement for securing a footed rail to a cast concrete sleeper comprising a clip support positioned on each side of said rail, each of said clip supports comprising a divided leg portion cast in said sleeper,

said divided leg portion having a reaction member extending substantially vertically above the surface of said sleeper and a leg member inclined from said reaction member in the direction of the rail and terminating in a cross bar extending above said sleeper and adapted to restrain transverse movement of said rail,

a back support positioned on each side of said rail and outwardly ofthe respective clip support,

and a clip positioned on each side of said rail,

each of said clips comprising a spring plate bearing on the respective back support and rail foot and tensioned by said reaction member of said clip support.

2. A rail fastening comprising, in combination with a concrete sleeper, a clip in the form of a spring plate, a

back support for said spring plate mounted on the sleeper remote from the rail foot, a reactionpiece for said spring plate cast or moulded in the sleeper and comprising a superior piece and an inferior piece, and a lateral abutment for the foot of the rail also comprising a superior piece and an inferior piece, the inferior piece of the reaction member being connected to the inferior piece of the abutment beneath the surface of the sleeper, and the reaction piece being located in a substantially vertical plane.

3. A reaction piece for use in a rail fastening according to claim 2, the reaction piece comprising an upright hoop and a lateral abutment for the foot of the rail, the hoop being formed substantially in one plane and having an inferior piece capable of being cast in the sleeper and a cross bar capable of being spaced above the surface of the sleeper for the spring clip to react against intermediate its ends.

4. A reaction piece as claimed in claim 3 wherein the lateral abutment for the foot of the rail consists of a Hat cross bar located above the inferior piece of the upright hoop so that said cross bar is capable of projecting above the surface of a concrete sleeper in which the reaction piece is cast.

5. A reaction piece as claimed in claim 4 which is formed from a single sheet of flat material and the parts which are to form the upright hoop and the lateral abutment being mutually offset for the offset relationship between them to provide a key in a concrete sleeper in which the reaction piece is to be cast.

6. A reaction piece as claimed in claim 5, in which the hoop is of substantially a D-shape with a divided leg portion and the lateral abutment is formed by the head of a T whose leg portion extends into said divided leg portion.

ARTHUR L. LA POINT, Primary Examiner. R. A. BERTSCH, Assistant Examiner. 

1. A RAIL FASTENING ARRANGEMENT FOR SECURING A FOOTED RAIL TO A CAST CONCRETE SLEEPER COMPRISING A CLIP SUPPORT POSITIONED ON EACH SIDE OF SAID RAIL, EACH OF SAID CLIP SUPPORTS COMPRISING A DIVIDED LEG PORTION CAST IN SAID SLEEPER, SAID DIVIDED LEG PORTION HAVING A REACTION MEMBER EXTENDING SUBSTANTIALLY VERTICALLY ABOVE THE SURFACE OF SAID SLEEPER AND A LEG MEMBER INCLINED FROM SAID REACTION MEMBER IN THE DIRECTION OF THE RAIL AND TERMINATING IN A CROSS BAR EXTENDING ABOVE SAID SLEEPER AND ADAPTED TO RESTRAIN TRANSVERSE MOVEMENT OF SAID RAIL, A BACK SUPPORT POSITIONED ON EACH SIDE OF SAID RAIL AND OUTWARDLY OF THE RESPECTIVE CLIP SUPPORT, AND A CLIP POSITIONED ON EACH SIDE OF SAID RAIL, EACH OF SAID CLIPS COMPRISING A SPRING PLATE BEARING ON THE RESPECTIVE BACK SUPPORT AND RAIL FOOT AND TENSIONED BY SAID REACTION MEMBER OF SAID CLIP SUPPORT. 